Exhibition

Material Virtualities

October 30 – November 22, 2025
Tue – Fri, 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Limonaia di Villa Saroli, 
Viale S. Franscini 9, Lugano

---

How does a like materialise? How many deserts become processors? Where is the labour that connects us hidden?

In the folds of everyday digital life, this exhibition brings to the surface what the illusion of the virtual tends to remove: the material. Material Virtualities invites us to look beyond the screen to discover the infrastructures, bodies and natural resources concealed behind every interaction with our devices.

The Limonaia di Villa Saroli becomes a critical and sensory space: six art and research installations guide the public through the invisible physicality of the digital, between silicon beaches, work tents and theological tables. Behind the appearance of an immaterial economy lies a world made of raw materials, energy and people.

Born from a transnational collaboration between research, art, architecture and education, the exhibition arrives in Ticino after a first stop in Bologna (Data Materialities), with an enriched and reimagined journey. It includes a programme of talks and public events, and is designed to bring even the youngest generations closer to the world of art and critical thinking.

---

Events
October 30: Opening and experience "Childhood and the Digital"
October 31: Round table "Behind Digital Platforms. New Educational Approaches for Ticino Schools"
November 19: Workshop "Social Networks in the Classroom"
November 22: Finissage and talk "Digital Capitalism"

Each event will be introduced by a brief presentation of the exhibition and followed by an aperitivo.

---